


Faster Than Light

by The_FlamingTiger



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alien Technology, Alternate Universe - Alien Invasion, Angst, Attempt at Humor, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Major Character Injury, Minor Injuries, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:07:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22185346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_FlamingTiger/pseuds/The_FlamingTiger
Summary: Blake Belladonna leaves her planet- Menagerie- in a mission for the joined military force to find guidance in another world to try and save her own planet. Her initial plan wasn't to land on Earth, but something redirects her airship and she ends up crashing into the backyard of two human women. Yang Xiao Long as a Physics student working on her PhD thesis. Ruby Rose as her genius younger sister who's studying Mechanical Engineering and is a big sci-fi nerd. Weiss Schnee as the tired medic who just wanted to get some sleep but got dragged into a "kinda-alien-invasion."
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna & Sun Wukong, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ilia Amitola & Blake Belladonna, Ilia Amitola/Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 18
Kudos: 63





	1. could you be the devil, could you be an angel

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are! I've been working on this since last year- December to be precise and not too dramatic- and I can say that it's been one of my favorite things to write so far. And it's going to be a great experience to share it with you all!
> 
> Enjoy ♡

Yang Xiao Long was forced into waking up by what was probably the loudest noise she'd ever heard in her life. She jolted in her chair, gasping as her whole body tensed. With the ringing in her ears and the intense headache, she was faintly aware of the pain in her back and neck from falling asleep on her desk again. Apparently, a book on time dilation was her newest pillow.

Working on this thesis for her PhD had been keeping her up late, rising her level of stress. Having the few hours of sleep she allowed herself to have interrupted so rudely didn't help much with that.

By how close the noise seemed to be, she assumed something had crashed into the woods by her backyard. A long sigh escaped her slightly parted lips as she stretched. Yang winced a bit at the loud pop that came from her spine. She noted that if she wanted to keep her back healthy, she'd have to rethink her sleeping routine. But again, this thesis was important and she needed to keep her research going.

"Yang!" the sound of her door being opened harshly by her younger sister startled the blonde, making her almost fall from her chair. "There's something huge in the woods! Come check it out!"

"Ruby," came Yang's groggy response. She looked at the clock on her desk and groaned. "It's 3AM... can't this wait till the day's actually started?"

"But what if someone needs help? Or worse," the younger woman's eyes widened as she gasped. "What if this is an alien invasion?!"

Yang rubbed her eyes, and then massaged her temples and inhaled. 'Deep breaths, Yang,' she told herself and exhaled, remembering what Doctor Goodwitch had told her in one of their sessions. 'This is only a stressful situation. It'll be over soon.'

"If I go out there with you, can we go back to sleep?" Yang asked slowly. Ruby had always been quite a curious person, willing to investigate any little thing that crossed her path. Not that Yang was that far behind, but the brunette's scientific instincts were usually the easiest to awaken. And scenarios such as her bursting into Yang's room at 3AM to investigate... _whatever it was_ didn't surprise the blonde at all.

"If you go out there with me, I'm letting you sleep for the rest of you life!"

"Okay," Yang agreed and grabbed the purple hoodie that she left over the backrest of her chair. She stood and put it on, over her orange tank top. Then, she popped her neck to free herself from the tension that settled there.

"Ew," Ruby reacted at the loud noise, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"You got me up. Now deal with the consequences, rosebud."

"Liar, you were already up when I entered." Ruby retorted, putting her hands in the pockets of her red hoodie and puffing her cheeks.

"You're right, you're right," the blonde responded and started walking out of her room. "Now let's check that alien invasion. Who knows, maybe we'll get abducted or something like that."

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed, way more excited than she probably should have been.

They made their way out of Yang's room, into the small corridor and toward the stairs. Ruby walked excitedly in front of her sister, while Yang just let out a loud yawn. Soon, they walked past their kitchen and opened the door that lead to the backyard. Yang walked to a toolbox they left by a bench on their porch. She grabbed two lanterns, handing one to Ruby and turning the other on.

"We don't wanna go into the woods without these," the blonde said as she jumped off the wooden decking.

"Aye!" Ruby responded, jumping after her sister and following her lead. They entered the woods, following a small trail they'd made to assure none of them got lost whenever they went out exploring. Ruby turned her lantern at any small sound she heard, a mix of curiosity and fright.

Yang tried to avoid getting anything on her hair by pulling her hood up. Had the situation been more convenient, she would have made a point out of assuring her hair wouldn't get all messed up. It wasn't a time for that, though. She and Ruby had entered the woods to try and find something that they had no clue of. It was late and dark. She could worry about her dear, luscious and beloved golden hair in the morning.

"So," Yang started. "How far into the woods is this... thing you saw?"

"Not too far," Ruby shrugged. "We might have to walk five to ten minutes to get to it."

Yang hummed. "You said this could be an alien invasion. Do you really believe that?"

"Well... it's not impossible. I mean, no laws of Physics say it couldn't be!"

"Very improbable, though. What're the odds that some extraterrestrial being would crash in _our_ backyard?"

"We live in the US, Yang. Every alien invasion starts here," Ruby deadpanned. "Do you even pay attention to movies?" 

Yang laughed loudly at that, slowing down to walk beside her sister. "Fair point, sis." the blonde ruffled Ruby's hair, earning an indignant 'hey!' from her.

They kept walking in silence for a while, taking in their surroundings. There were leaves all over the ground, an evidence of autumn and of the cold weather. The trees that surrounded them seemed to have black trunks in the dim light of their lanterns. The two saw one or two owls watching them, the intense gaze seeming to seek for the deepest side of their souls. There was also a sound of cracking sticks that they preferred to believe was a deer instead of a wolf.

They picked up the pace anyway.

Yang almost froze when they began approaching what seemed to be the location of the crash. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the bent tree trunks that were turned in the direction of whatever had broken them. There were also pieces of what seemed to be some black metal. It made Yang's imagination go wild, and she ended up concluding that it was probably something from a mean of transportation.

Yang gulped and kept walking with cautious, but steady steps. They had started this, and now they would see it to the end. She felt Ruby's hand on her forearm, and looked down to see a bit of dread take her features.

"Hey, you okay?" Yang asked, concerned.

"Yeah," came the shaky answer. "I just don't know what we'll do if this is real."

"Two young women discovering something that might turn the tides of science and make all we know about this world and this universe come crumbling down? Pfft, I bet we'll be just fine."

"I am just an Engineering student," Ruby mumbled. "I didn't sign up for discovering stuff."

"Weren't you the one who was excited about this being a possible alien invasion?" Yang quirked an eyebrow at her younger sister.

"Yeah, but now that it looks real, I don't know anymore! Oh my God, what if the alien kills us?!"

"Then we'll be the first humans to be victims of this being," Yang shrugged, and then gasped when she saw the huge object Ruby had probably seen from her window. It seemed to be a mix of a jet and a futuristic spaceship. Two of the four wings were broken and what seemed to be the rear was turned to her and Ruby. A tree had fallen on top of it, leaving the top part a mess.

Ruby tried walking backwards, her face going pale and cold hands still grasping her sister's forearm. Yang gabbed one of her arms and steadied her though, and looked into her eyes. "We gotta see this, Ruby. As you said, someone might have gotten hurt."

"Yeah," she started, unsure. But then, a spark of determination took place in her features. "Yeah! Let's check this out," and with that, they started walking around the ship, Yang opting to go left while Ruby inspected the right side.

"It's pretty," Yang muttered, running her fingertips over the golden details in black metal. When she got to the front, she noted that it was an absolute wreck. Since there weren't any explosions, she concluded that the motor was elsewhere. 'Lucky,' Yang thought while she approached the ship to take a closer look.

Yang used her right hand to support herself against the top wing as she inspected the space between it and the bottom wing- which was one of the damaged ones. There was a line that looked like the one of a closed car door. "Yo, Ruby! Come check this out!"

"What's up?!" Ruby was beside her sister within seconds.

"Look at that. Kinda looks like a-"

The two jumped backward, tripping and falling when the ship started making a weird noise. It was a painful sound of metal on metal as the top wing started moving in the other direction. It was stopped by the tree on top of the airship though, leaving only a small opening. From it, came a bloodied hand, grasping the metal. Then, someone pulled themself out of the airship, falling off of it and on the bottom wing and ending up in a weird sitting position.

Ruby and Yang just stared at the stranger for some moments. Their eyes were wide and they looked at each other, before looking at the pilot again. Their form was perfectly human, except for what seemed to be cat ears on top of their head. Their breathing was raged and seemed very pained. Yang was the first one to get up and walk closer, using her lantern to examine the being in front of her. She kneeled in front of the... person? Alien? Whatever. Ruby was soon to follow, and she stood behind Yang, just observing what her sister was doing.

The black and purple clothes were mostly torn, revealing several cuts all over the skin. It still hugged the stranger's body in a way that revealed curves and breasts. The black hair was a contrast to pale skin, and their features revealed all the pain caused by the wounds. There was a nasty one near the left hipbone, which was bleeding a dark, vibrant red. There was also a cut on the right side of the forehead, that made blood trickle down their face. Yang pushed dark bangs to the side, to try and get a better look.

Then, there was a loud gasp and a coughing fit, followed by a pained hiss. The alien's hands went to the wound near their hipbone, indicating that it was the biggest source of pain that instant. After a minute or two, eyelids separated to reveal yellow irises that stared back at Yang. There was what seemed as a low growl, eyes glaring at her and then at Ruby, trying to look intimidating. But Yang captured the panic behind the stare. So even knowing it was probably pointless, she started talking.

"Hey, don't worry. We're here to help, alright? You're wounded. Like, it looks _really bad_. But we ain't letting you die. Okay?"

"You..." came a raspy voice, weak and laced in pain. "Your eyes... are purple..."

"Uh..." Yang was taken aback by the fact that she was understood, and that whatever this being was, they had spoken back in her language. "Well, they're actually not. But like, they're a very dark shade of blue, so I get why-" before she could finish, they had passed out again. "And... they passed out. Ruby, let's take them to the house. Then call Weiss."

"What?! Yang, have you lost your mind?!"

"Look, this... this is a _person_ , Ruby. We can't just leave them out here to die!"

"You're right, but... Weiss is, well. _Weiss_! Are you sure we should call her?"

Yang picked up the wounded person in bridal style, not caring that there would be blood all over her hoodie. "What do you suggest? A hospital? So they can probe this poor being?" Yang exhaled, trying to lessen her exasperation. "Besides... Weiss probably has some of the best medical stuff at home, since she's, as you said, _Weiss_."

"Yeah. Yeah... we should call her," Ruby nodded, finally getting up. "Sorry, I just... goodness, this is a lot."

"Hey, it's okay." Yang's eyes softened, and she walked to her sister. "This... it's scary and I don't know what's gonna happen next either. But we can do this, yeah? As the coolest sisters duo ever!"

"Yeah... we can do this," the younger woman nodded, seeming to be talking more to herself than to Yang. "We gotta do this!"

And with that, they started their rush back home. They could take care of the spaceship after they took care of its owner.

* * *

_Blake stood before her airship, touching its front with her left hand. "It's you and me now," she mumbled to the ship with a nervous smile. The other pilots had already left the take-off area, leaving her to the cautious inspection of her airship, GMBL. She needed to be sure everything was in order before leaving. Not that she didn't trust Velvet with the maintenance, but it never hurt to be cautious._

_This was a mission that could save lives if gone right, or could doom them all if gone wrong._

_"Blake," Blake's left ear twitched in the direction of the voice that called her. She smiled at the short woman who approached her, the spots on her face a light gray. Blake had known her for ages, so she knew what this meant._

_"Ilia," she responded and her smile widened. "Don't be nervous. I will be alright."_

_"Yeah, I know that. I just wanted to see you off, is all." Ilia's features changed, concern taking over as her voice lowered. "Are you sure you wanna leave like this? He-"_

_"I have to, Ilia. I don't trust myself with being..." Blake let out a long sigh. "Look, I made my choice. This is for the best."_

_Ilia let out a long breath. "Okay. I trust you," she walked to Blake and gave her a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you."_

_Blake was surprised for some moments, but smiled and returned the gesture. "Thank you. And I'll miss you, too."_

Blake opened her eyes, waking up in an unknown room. The lights blinded her, and the banging in her head made her close her eyes again. Her right leg was hurting- several bruises, she assumed- and her whole body was aching. There was a sharp pain in her left side, the worst of it near her hip. She was faintly aware of the warmth against her head and- naked, she noted- back. It was strangely comforting, and she tried her best to not lean back into it.

"Weiss, I think they're waking up," Blake heard in a language that was clearly not her own. She was glad for her choice of the language mapping device.

"Great," she heard someone else mutter in an unamused tone.

She started panicking, not recognizing the second voice. Her eyes shot open, and she stared up at the source of the first voice. She remembered the golden hair and gentle voice from earlier. 'We ain't letting you die,' were some of the words that she remembered hearing. The memory helped calm her nerves, for a very strange reason.

"Where am I?" Blake asked, her panic a bit more evident than she wanted to let out. Then, she saw purple eyes turn to her. 'They're a very dark shade of blue,' she reminded herself. But her eyes never betrayed her before regarding colors. She decided to just trust herself.

"Hey, you. You're in my room," the blonde smiled gently. "My friend is patching you up. She's a physician, so she knows what she's doing. The crash did quite a number on ya, y'know?"

Oh, right. The crash. She didn't remember much of what happened, which she linked to the pain in her head. She also felt strangely clean for someone who had been wounded so badly.

Blake inspected herself, and saw her arms bandaged with strips. Aside from the same strips wrapped around her chest- which made her feel thankful-, her torso was naked. She was also in loose grey sweatpants. The wound near her hipbone was neatly cleaned. It didn't look as bad as it felt, and then she remembered she had started sealing it back in the airship.

_Metal stabbing at the lower part of her torso._

_The sharp pain when she punched the button to make her seat lower to the ground, a sharp gasp leaving her lips._

_Nearly blacking out before reaching for the first aid vessel._

_The sealer expiring before the wound was completely healed._

_Crawling out._

"I'm gonna need you to hold her down for me, Yang," the other voice said, pulling Blake out of the memory and prompting her to look at the other person in the room. The woman was wearing a loose white shirt and white pants, as well as blue gloves, medical cap and mask. Blake noticed that her hair was also white, and her eyes were a light shade of blue, with a scar over the left one. She was holding a needle in her left hand.

"What are you going to do to me?!" Blake's eyes widened, and she started trying to back up against Yang in a sitting position, and far from the doctor. She felt ice blue daggers piercing her as the other woman glared at her. Blake glared back and showed her gritted teeth and her ears went down, a hostile gesture that usually made people back off.

"Hey," Yang put a hand in her shoulder. "She has to stitch you up. Or else, your wound might get worse."

"Why use such primitive means?" Blake grumbled. "I know much better ways of patching up than... _that_."

"Oh, you do?" The white haired woman smiled. "Then what about I leave you to take care of yourself with your nowhere to be found advanced ways?"

"Well, I never asked for the help of your kind."

" _My kind_ is the same kind that saved you from bleeding to death just an hour ago!"

"I was not talking about Yang."

"Okay!" Yang intercepted. "Look, let's just... calm down. Weiss, I am sorry we called you this hour and I know you're stressed and tired. But please, this... uh..."

"Faunus woman."

"Right. This faunus woman is in need of medical assistance. You made a vow when you graduated, remember? And you always said you'd like to help people," Yang spoke softly, and Weiss clenched her teeth, unable to argue. "And you, er..."

"Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"Blake," Yang said, and Blake found the way it left her lips quite endearing. "This must be a lot to take in, being in somewhere you know nothing about, with people you don't know. And I don't know where you're from or who exactly you are either. But we're trying to help you the best we can. Our means might not be familiar or convenient wherever you came from, but it's the very best we can do for you. So please, just let Weiss stitch you up."

Blake could see a hint of tiredness in Yang's eyes, but the kindness there overcame it. There was something about how the blonde spoke to her that put her at ease. She couldn't quite put it, and she probably shouldn't be as drawn to her rescuer as she was. This was a strange world, inhabited by some other species than her own. 

Yang could be a captor. Someone who would turn her in to the authorities of this world. Someone who, without hesitation, would allow her to be taken away and used for scientific purposes.

That's what she knew that would happen in Menagerie. That's what _he_ expected the people to do.

But as Yang looked at her gently, hand squeezing her shoulder, Blake allowed herself to relax. "Okay," she muttered and went back to her previous position, laying on Yang's lap.

Weiss approached her again, and this time Blake remained still. She hissed when the needle went through her skin the first few times, but eventually got used to it. Weiss was much gentler with the stitching than Blake had expected, and she suddenly felt ridiculous for her previous reaction. 

Blake decided to take in her surroundings while she was stitched up. The yellow walls were covered by some posters of what she assumed were movies and bands. The one across from her had what looked like a television out of a history book attached to it. Under the TV was a big desk that formed an L with the corner of the walls, the smaller part a few centimeters from the bed. On the largest part, there were some books, papers and markers- which were spread and messy. The smaller section had what seemed to be a very strange device. It was yellow with black details and was closed, looking like a notebook, but metallic.

"What is that?" Blake pointed at the device.

"Oh, uh... it's a laptop. A portable computer that you can charge and carry around," Yang scratched the back of her head. "You... know what a computer is, right?"

"Yes," Blake's eyebrows furrowed. "It sounds like a- ouch, watch it!" she glared at Weiss when she used a little more force than previously with the needle.

"It is not my fault if you two talking is distracting!" Weiss snapped.

"God, can you _not_ be so grumpy for once?" Yang asked.

"Yeah," Blake teamed up with the blonde to poke fun at the doctor, smirking. ‘It’s payback,’ she thought. ‘For stabbing me with that thing.’ "Stop being so grumpy, doctor with primitive medical resources."

"I will let you bleed to death."

Blake shrugged, trying not to wince at the trob in her wound. "You will not."

"Try me, bitch." Weiss responded. Blake was a bit surprised at her lack of hesitation or restraint. This woman was in a room, patching up someone from an unknown species who had shown some signs of hostility... and she told Blake to ‘try her'?

‘Brave,’ Blake thought.

"Weiss, this is _not_ the time for memes," Yang deadpanned.

"You do this all the time, Yang."

"Yeah, but like... no."

Weiss let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I will just go back to work."

Blake decided to not keep talking, and just kept inspecting the room. To her left, there was a window that gave view to another house that seemed to be good distance from Yang's. She turned her head to look to her right, finding a wardrobe against the same wall as the bed's headboard. Across from the bed, beside the door, instead of a regular wall, it was a bookshelf that extended to the rooftop.

A small gasp left Blake's lips. Although the house's structure seemed primitive compared to Menagerian houses, she found that detail quite nice. And since she had always loved reading, curiosity filled her as to what kind of book were there. Adventure? Romance? Horror? Fom the messy desk, Yang seemed to be studying, though. Then perhaps History? Science?

"It's done," Weiss muttered. Blake was so entranced by the books that she did not notice the physician finishing the patch up. She looked down to see the wound covered by a gauze, which was held in place by sticking plaster. Blake bit her tongue to not comment on it.

“Thank you.” Blake answered, honesty in her voice. Someone burst through the door before Weiss could respond. Startled, Blake sat up and pushed herself against the closed window. She hissed as pain shot through her, hand going to her right side.

“Guys, you won’t believe- oh!” the other person from earlier in the woods showed up. What made Blake recognize them was definitely the bright, zipped up red hoodie and the messy brown and red hair.

“Careful, or I might have to stitch you up again!” Weiss warned. 

“Who is that?” Blake frowned at the new person.

“That’s Ruby, my younger sister.” Yang answered. She got up and stretched, and Blake did her best to hide her disappointment. She still didn’t understand why, but the blonde made her feel surprisingly safe. Unsettlingly so. 

Blake took the opportunity to finally take in her appearance. The white tank top was a bit ridden up, revealing the muscles of her stomach. Like both Blake and Ruby, Yang wore sweatpants. It was loose and the shade of purple was quite lighter than her eyes. Blake almost laughed at the fact that she was wearing flip flops and socks. She bit laughter down when Ruby started talking.

“Oh, so the alien does speak our language!” Ruby exclaimed. “And perfectly too...” she narrowed her eyes, and then they went wide. “Oh my God, are we living in a Marvel movie?!”

“Ruby...” Yang started.

“I can’t believe my life has been a _movie_ all along! Do I get to meet Captain Marvel? Oh, oh! Do you know Thor? Have you-"

“Ruby,” Weiss interrupted. “We aren’t living in a movie.”

“So how do you explain the fact that a being from another world knows English?”

“First of all,” Blake started, annoyed. “My name is Blake Belladonna, so you can stop referring to me as ‘the alien' or anything of the sort. Second of,” she pulled her hair away from the right side of her head and turned her head to Ruby. Yang took a glimpse of the metal chip there. “I have this device that maps the most spread out language across a world. It sends electric jolts into my brain that mimic synapses and allows me to communicate with your people.”

Ruby's eyes went wide and Blake could see a spark of curiosity in them. “That’s. So. Cool!” she was about to say more, a long yawn erupted from Blake's chest.

“We should probably let Blake get some rest,” Yang said and looked at Blake with sympathy. “You can talk to her in the morning, Ruby.”

Ruby pouted a little, clearly excited to ask Blake a million questions. Then, she let out a long sigh and nodded. “Okay...” she leaned against the doorframe.

“Before you sleep, I have some recommendations,” Weiss started. “Try not to make too much physical effort and do not put your body under too much stress. That might reopen your wound and worsen your bruised ribs. They weren’t too bad, so I could treat you here. But if they get worse, you will _have_ to be taken to a hospital. The cuts on your arms and the gash on your head have to be cleaned once a day, and the stab wound must be cleaned twice. Alcohol and cotton for that. I am leaving some analgesics that might help with the pain in your head and ointment for your legs.”

“How long until I am completely healed?”

Weiss hummed, eyebrows furrowed as she went deep in thought. Blake could almost see the gears inside her head working. “From what I saw while treating you, I am assuming that your anatomy is similar to a human's. So I estimate that the treatment will have to go on for about a month. But I can’t be sure, since I don’t know much about the healing process of your body. Might be longer, might be shorter. For now, I think we all agree that you should get some rest.”

Blake tensed a bit at that. That delay of her mission was far too long, she couldn’t bear to wait that much. But again... from how bad the crash had been- seen as it had wounded her this badly-, it was not like she could go anywhere. She would have to fix it before she could proceed, and that task might be even more difficult with her wounds. So she sighed and relaxed, deciding to take Weiss' advice.

“You can have my bed,” Yang said. “I mean... you’re already there anyway, right?” a small, nervous chuckle came from her mouth. Again, her kindness surprised Blake and almost overwhelmed her.

“Right,” she responded, lying on the pillow. She then smiled at the other three woman, allowing her expression to be something other than daring or tense. She realized they were probably the only ones she would be safe with in this world. “Thank you,” she repeated before closing her eyes, drifting to sleep.

Yang sighed loudly after she closed the door behind her. With the high from helping save Blake lowering and the tiredness hitting her harder than before, she felt her legs tremble and she fell on her knees. Her eyes were wide and her breath came out in fast exhales. Weiss and Ruby rushed to her and kneeled before as quick as they could.

“Yang!” Ruby shouted and put her left hand on her sister's shoulder, the right one clutching Yang's forearm.

“There... there is a stranger in my bed. From another planet.” Yang’s voice trembled as she clutched her chest, feeling the rapid beat under her fingers.

“Oh, _now_ you mention it,” was Weiss' sarcastic response. Yang noticed a bit of concern there though, and managed to let out a chuckle. “Let's get you to the living room. We can talk there and you can get to calm down.”

Yang nodded and allowed herself to be helped up by the two other women. The three of them walked through the corridor and to the stairs, going down the steps and into the living room. Ruby and Yang sat side by side on the bigger sofa, while Weiss took the smaller one across from them. They were separated by the coffee table on the red carpet, on which Weiss put her medical equipment.

“Are you two sure you want to do this?” Weiss asked, arms and legs crossed. Her eyebrows were furrowed and the cerulean eyes held deep concern. Ever since they met, Ruby and Yang had been nothing but supportive friends to Weiss. Sure, they had a bit of a rocky start, but they ended up becoming pillars to each other. Found family, one could call it.

“I... I don’t know,” Yang answered and rubbed her face with her palms. “I really don’t wanna leave her to die, but this is all just... so frightening.”

“Yeah...” Ruby responded. “It’s like all we've ever know is crumbling right um front of our eyes! And in the form of a lady with cat ears!”

“I have more questions than answers right now. It’s all so confusing and frustrating!” Yang exclaimed. “I don’t know what to do or what to think. But there’s this... this _gut feeling_ that tells me that she’s not a threat. That she won’t hurt m- _us_. I don’t know what it is, or where it comes from. I just... feel it.”

Weiss’ lips twitched up slightly, and if Yang didn’t know her, she wouldn’t have been able to tell that Weiss was smiling. “For a scientist, you’re trusting too much in your ‘gut.’”

Yang shrugged and smiled. “Well, ninety percent of everything I've been doing since high school has been trusting formulas. It’ll be a nice change.”

“You are impossible,” Weiss chuckled lightly. Then, her eyes turned to Ruby and she went serious. “What about you, Ruby? How do you feel about this?”

“Well... I went out to look at the ship while you two were taking care of Blake. I'm really intrigued about all of this! Like... it scares me and interests me at the same time. I am pretty sure the motor is on the other side since it seems to be thicker there. It’s probably to-"

“The question, Ruby,” Weiss requested when Ruby started to ramble. In any other situation, she wouldn’t have minded, but she was tired and really wished to get some sleep.

“Uh, sorry. I am with Yang in this. I don’t think Blake is gonna hurt us, and I don’t want her to die. And I also want to get to explore her ship and how it works! Maybe even help her fix it to get wherever she was going?”

“And are you two ready for what may come from this? If the government finds out, if the military comes...” Weiss trailed off. “Do you think you can handle that?”

Yang and Ruby looked at each other, their minds taken by millions of insecurities. Then, Yang sighed and looked at Weiss.

“I’m not ready and I don’t think I can handle all of that. And right now, I’m too tired to consider all the scenarios that could go wrong,” Yang admitted.

“Me too,” Ruby said and yawned.

Weiss let out a long sigh and nodded. “Alright. I have to go home now, but we _will_ talk more about this later.”

The other two nodded and stood to walk Weiss to the door. They hugged her goodbye and watched her get in her car, a white Mercedes-Benz C 300. When Weiss drove away, Yang closed their front door and went to the sofa. Ruby was about to climb the stairs when she noticed Yang lying there.

“Are you not going up to your room?”

Yang hummed, putting her right arm over her eyes. “Nah, I think I'll just sleep here. Too tired to climb stairs.”

“Are you... scared of Blake?”

“More like scared of how she might react finding me in the room when she wakes up.”

“I thought you said you didn’t think she'd hurt us.”

“And I don’t. But I won’t underestimate her power to kill me either. I’m not like Weiss.”

“What did Weiss do?”

“She quoted a vine. That’s all I’ll tell ya. Now go to sleep.”

“Tomorrow on breakfast. You __will__ tell me.”

“Sure,” Yang agreed, and then yawned. “G'night, rosebud.”

“Night, sis!”

After she heard Ruby end the stairs, Yang felt herself finally able to sleep. Her mind was still wild with thoughts as she slipped into the land of dreams. There was one that stood out, though.

' _Who exactly are you, Blake Belladonna?_ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> Chapter Two is coming out today as well, but I'm going to post some content for the AU on my Tumblr until I publish it. My user is @sunnylildragun :D
> 
> All in all, hope you liked this beginning! See y'all soon ^-^


	2. stun me with your lasers

His gloved finger tapped repeatedly on his office's desk, the sound muffled by the mess of papers. In front of him, five holographic images showed maps of different locations. The one that stayed in the middle had been intriguing him since the pilots' departure, though. No precise location. No purple spot moving throughout the Universe. Communication system turned off. No sign, no clue, _nothing_.

It was the one that slipped away from his control.

GMBL. _Blake Belladonna_.

His eyebrows furrowed, his patience wearing thinner. He ran his hand though his hair, careful to not touch his horns. Out of all the scenarios he had predicted for this mission, _this_ wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t make things easier, now could she? She always had to come in and ruin it all on her way out.

‘She wasn’t even supposed to go on this mission,’ he thought, fury boiling in his system. His hand formed a fist, with which he hit the table. ‘She wasn’t supposed to leave!’

With that, he gave in to the anger in his veins and pushed the papers off the desk with a shout. His right eye went back to the screens, staring holes into GMBL's. Then, through the hologram, he saw Ilia Amitola by the door. He pressed a button on the underside of the metal to shut the holograms off. 

He couldn’t tell if Ilia had seen his outburst, as she was saluting him with a blank, focused expression. “General Taurus, sir!” Ilia said when she noticed his attention on her. He saluted back, and then both went into a resting position. “Apologies for entering with no permission. I knocked a few times, to no response.”

Adam simply hummed. “No need for apologies, Second Lieutenant. Now what brings you here?”

“Councilman Callows wishes to speak with you, sir. He is waiting outside.”

“I see,” Adam nodded. “Tell him I will be out in a bit. Dismissed.”

Ilia saluted again, and then left the office. Adam looked at the papers on the ground, getting a glimpse of the white folder. The red design of a panther roaring with the claw marks cutting through it matched the patch around the right arm of his suit jacket. He frowned at it and adjusted his tie, walking toward the door. 

He exited the office to find a very eager scorpion faunus standing before him. He wore an all white suit, except for his purple tie. The yellow irises complemented the maniacal grin, seeming ready to mix things up at any given opportunity. Adam narrowed his eye at Tyrian.

“Couldn’t you just have gone in?”

“Oho,” Tyrian responded. “Is all the paperwork making you lazy, _General_?”

“Watch your tongue,” Adam's eyebrows furrowed further and his frown grew. Callows had the audacity to laugh.

“Now, there is no need for hostility! What is wrong in wanting to take my _favorite_ superior officer for a walk?”

“I am your _only_ superior officer, Councilman,” General Taurus' stare hardened.

“Why, yes yes yes,” Tyrian bowed dramatically. “And I am at your service, sir.”

“Of course,” Adam responded and they started their walk in silence. The metallic walls of the Higher Headquarters reflected their images, as well as the blue lights. Some officers nodded at them respectfully, seeming delighted at the presence of their superior officers. They walked through some doors before stepping out, into the empty gardens. “What was it that you desired to talk about?”

“The Fallen Embers mission,” Tyrian looked at him. The afternoon sun gave his features a less murderous aspect. His hands clasped as he put them behind his body. “I expected you to be thrilled to talk about the most audacious mission ever proposed by a General. Anything to report yet?”

“None of the pilots reported back aside from finding a few celestial bodies with unknown mineral composition. Nothing that interests us.”

“What about Colonel Belladonna?” Callows asked, and seemed glad when the question appeared to have hit a nerve.

“What about her?” Adam scowled as they entered the section of the garden where the eoslances¹ grew.

“Last hour assignment. Nowhere to be found. No reports, not even about ‘not interesting celestial bodies...’” Tyrian's eyebrow shot up. “Now _I_ ask _you_ , General. What about her?”

“You didn’t call me out here to listen to me talk about the mission, did you, Councilman Callows?” Tyrian chuckled, his eye still on the other man's profile. “I could always drag her back. Apprehend her for treason and have her pay for it as the _coward_ she is,” Adam mused, voice emotionless as he picked up an eoslance.

“Hold your horses, General. You don’t even know where she is.”

“You dare speak to me like that?”

“I have been with the White Fang since before you thought you'd become General. Before you were even _someone_ here,” Tyrian laughed. “I speak to you as I desire.” Adam growled, but didn’t get a chance to respond. “What I am trying to get at is that this little... disappearance of hers could serve us well.”

“How?” Adam asked, looking at the older man.

“We make it _convenient_,” Tyrian's eyes shone purple, his grin full of mischief. “Or have you forgotten the true purpose of this mission?”

General Taurus looked at the flower in his hand. Then, his features were taken by a dark smirk as he crushed it. “Convenient, you say.”

* * *

Blake's eyes opened as the warmth of sunlight hit her face. This was probably one of the best nights of sleep she had gotten in a few weeks. It amused her that her world's technology was so advanced, but they still could not make better beds for the airships. Not a priority, she guessed.

She sat up in the soft mattress of Yang’s bed, wincing a bit at the ache in the left side of her body. If only the sealing spray had healed that better... but of course, things couldn’t go smoothly for her. Blake faintly wished to contact to one of the Military bases, asking for back-up. But she reminded herself that there was a huge chance that Adam had already noticed what she had done.

If she went home without something useful, she would be imprisoned as a traitor. It was either returning as a hero, or not going back at all.

Blake sighed and rubbed her face with both hands. She tried considering her options, but it always lead to relying on the people who rescued her. Her ship was mostly destroyed and she had wounds that- according to Weiss- would put a restraint on her movements for some time. The only logical action for her to take would be taking it slow, laying low and asking for help. Even if this was a foreign planet.

Even if she was out of her box.

Even if the way of life in this world contradicted most of the things she knew.

Even if one of the humans who helped her had this overwhelming sense of kindness.

 _Yang_. That woman intrigued her from their first interaction. The way she so readily offered help was confusing to Blake. Of course, empathy and altruism were concepts that weren’t strange to her. But how could someone be so willing to help a being they knew nothing about? Who was this woman who offered her house to somebody who could kill her?

Blake sighed again, turning around to get up and deciding to delay her inner turmoil. Her teeth gritted at the pain from standing and at the cold floor against her bare feet, but she still started walking toward the door. When she exited the room, she noticed a door right in front of it, and there was another in the end of the corridor. She swallowed the temptation of exploring where those doors lead to. 

Leaning against one of the brown walls- which was opposite to Yang's room-, she made her way to what seemed to be stairs. The first step down sent a jolt of pain through her left side and she hissed, her ears flattening against her scalp in distress. Blake kept her eyes closed for a few seconds and tried calming her breath. She could do this. These were just a few steps down. She could do it.

Blake kept her descent, grasping the handrail tightly. She tried to ignore the fact that the other part of the stairs had nothing to secure them. ‘What maniac of an architect would do this?’ Blake thought. ‘This is a _death wish_.’

When the stairs were done with, she turned to her right to take in the new room. It was large, with a big television in the wall across from where Blake stood. The cabinet under it had a golden statue of what seemed to be a snake-like creature in the middle, with more decor on either side of it. In a small hole, there was a device that Blake wasn’t sure what it could be, but was connected to the TV. There were two doors beside it, but she couldn’t imagine what was in there either.

Her eyes wandered to the middle of the room, seeing a small table between two brown sofas. On the biggest sofa, Blake noticed a person who was probably Yang. She briefly thought of going there to take a look at the blonde, find relief from the cold against her feet in the soft looking red carpet. She restrained herself though, and decided to explore more of the house. 

Blake turned right and kept walking through another corridor. Then, the overwhelming smell of fish took her nostrils. Her mouth watered and her pupils dilated. She couldn’t believe it, they had it here too! Fish, the one food she appreciated the most, still followed her into this planet. This was certainly a blessing from the Brothers, and although she wasn’t too religious, she would be sure to thank them later.

Wounds forgotten, she rushed to where the wonderful smell came from, finding na opened door and entering the room. She found herself in the kitchen, which had a four chair table in the middle. Across from her, there was a very primitive looking fridge, with bigger doors on top and a smaller one under them.

Her eyes went left, seeing Ruby preparing something on a balcony that separated the kitchen in two sectors. She had black and red head phones on and bobbed her head to the same rhythm she was whistling. Blake walked to the balcony and leaned against it. Sandwiches. Three tuna sandwiches and another one that Blake had _no idea_ of what the content was. That’s what Ruby was preparing.

“Could you put more tuna in one of them, please?” Blake requested.

“Huh?” Ruby asked, taking one side of her headphones off and looking up. Then, she shrieked loudly and walked backwards, hitting the sink and making Blake take a step back as well, cat ears twitching in distress. One of Ruby's hands went to her chest and the other grasped the edge of the sink while she gasped for air. “Blake...” she started between raged gasps. “Please, don’t ever do that again.”

“Sorry,” Blake smiled in sympathy. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay, just... just maybe announce yourself next time?” Ruby took off her headphones entirely and went back to work. “It’s generally just me and Yang. So I get kinda jumpy when there’s anyone else in the house.”

“Noted, “ Blake nodded and walked to lean against the balcony. “Good to know it was not because of these,” her cat ears twitched emphatically and Ruby took her eyes off the sandwiches for a second to look at Blake.

“Oh, no.” Ruby chuckled lightly, focusing her eyes back on her task. “Not gonna lie, it’s a bit, uh... everything that’s happening is stuff that I never expected to experience. But I don’t think you could freak me out,”she shrugged and laughed. “Your ship did a much better work with that.” Blake laughed a little at that, and Ruby smiled. “And the weirdest part is still you talking in English perfectly. Like, you did talk about this device you have connected to your brain, but- and... I rambled.”

“You’re fine, it’s a lot to take in.”

“Yeah! It’s exciting, but also scary. To learn this load of new stuff,” she finished the sandwiches. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“Do you have tea?”

“Tea is a thing in your world?” Ruby's eyes held a bit of shock.

“What kind of world _wouldn’t_ have tea?” Blake's eyebrows furrowed a bit. “Isn’t that some sort of damnation?”

Ruby laughed out loud at that, and Blake let a chuckle scape too. “That would be a world with no cookies to me!”

Blake's face went serious, almost emotionless. “Cookies?” she cocked her head to the side and her ears lowered a bit in curiosity.

“You... don’t have cookies where you come from?!” Ruby gasped when Blake shook her head. “Oh. My. God! Nope, we can’t have this!” she rushed to the fridge in an impressive speed. Blake stared in amusement as she grabbed a pot that was on top of it. Ruby rushed back, standing in front of Blake and opening the pot. “Yang usually doesn’t let me eat them aside from certain days, but this is a special occasion!”

“Aren’t an adult?” Blake raised an eyebrow at the other woman before her eyes went to the pot. She inspected the content skeptically, grabbing one of the cookies to take a better look. Blake couldn’t even begin to describe it aside from the chocolate chips.

“Oh, yeah! It’s... uh, we made a promise. To look out for each other, y’know? And I used to be kind of addicted to cookies and Yang knew it would eventually be bad, so we made this agreement and... yeah.”

Blake felt tempted to ask if Yang had any bad habits, but fought against that urge. Instead, she just hummed and decided to just go for the bite. The cookie was surprisingly really, really good. Blake’s eyes widened and her ears perked up as she stared at it in awe, and bit it again. She closed her eyes as it basically dissolved in her mouth, the taste of chocolate by the end making her hum.

“This... this is one of the best things I have eaten in my _entire life_.”

Ruby smirked, grabbing a cookie for herself. “See? How did you live your entire life without them?!”

“I didn’t even know they existed,” Blake said as she grabbed another one.

“ _Exactly_!”

“Corrupting our guest already, Ruby?” Blake’s ears twitched when she heard Yang's voice. She turned her head to the door, seeing the blonde leaning with her back against the frame. Her grin was teasing, and her voice held a joking tone. And she looked annoyingly gorgeous for someone who had just woken up.

“Blake had never eaten cookies in her life!” Ruby exclaimed. “They simply _don't exist_ where she comes from!”

“Unbelievable,” Yang started walking to them, rolling her eyes fondly.

“I know, right? It’s like, the tragedy of the century!”

“I bet it is,” Yang smirked and grabbed the pot from Ruby's hands, putting it back on top of the fridge. Then, she turned and her eyes were on Blake. “Don’t let her get in your head. She’ll turn you into a cookie monster.”

“Hey! I won’t!”

“Remember when Weiss spent one week with us?” Yang asked, grabbing two of the plates to take them to the table. “Klein called halfway through the other week, saying she was stressed as hell after homemade cookies and not even coffee would calm her down. You _broke her_ , Ruby.”

Ruby pouted as she grabbed the other two plates. Blake remained by the counter, watching the sisters' banter. “She hadn’t had them since she was seven. I wanted to be nice.”

“I know you did,” Yang ruffled her sister’s hair and opened one of the doors to grab a jar with na orange liquid. “Do you like orange juice, Blake?”

“Oh, uh...” Blake was slightly surprised by the sudden attention. “We don’t have orange juice in Menagerie.”

“Oh! So... would you like anything else?” Yang smiled kindly at her, and Blake bit her tongue. That smile was too distracting, _Yang_ was too distracting. She averted her eyes and crossed her arms, but still felt Yang's gaze on her.

“May I have some tea?”

“Sure thing!” Yang nodded, heading to the section of the kitchen past the blacony. This time, Blake's eyes followed her. “How do you like it?”

“Brewed and with a bit of honey, please.”

“You can sit by the table, though. Weiss said not to strain yourself.”

Blake sighed walked to the table, pulling a chair for herself. Ruby put two glasses on the table and sat in front of her. She then served some juice for her and for the glass beside hers. Blake smiled as she watched Ruby and Yang going through their breakfast routine. It had been a long time since Blake had a morning this calm and intimate. Back in Menagerie, being a part of the White Fang Armed Forces, she rarely got the chance to share something like this with anyone else.

As for her parents...

Blake sighed and furrowed her eyebrows. The memory of the last breakfast they had shared as a family came crashing. Her fifteen years old self was foolish to think she knew better than them. Was naive enough to fall for his tricks, for his traps. She had yelled at her parents and protested. Stung with her words and then cried by herself in her room. All for what?

 _"We will change this world together, some day,”_ he had said once.

‘Lies!’ Blake thought. ‘It is all lies!’

“Hey, you still here?” Blake heard Yang's voice call her. She looked up to find some concern in the way blonde eyebrows furrowed. There was a tea cup in Yang's hand, and Blake wondered how long her daydream had lasted.

“Yeah, just... thinking,” Blake responded a bit more harshly than she had intended. She expected Yang to glare at her for the reaction, demanding to know what it was about. Instead, the blonde simply placed the cup in front of Blake gently.

“Well, hope the tea goes well with the thoughts!” Yang said and sat beside Ruby. “We only had chamomile, though.”

Blake took a sip and her eyes widened a bit. “Woah.”

“What?” Yang asked before taking a bite from her sandwich.

“This tea... it’s really good.”

“Oh, thanks! I got used to making tea for my dad since I was little, but there’s this one technique I picked up from...” the blonde trailed off, her smile becoming a small frown. “From someone I met a while ago.”

“Well, you’re doing an awesome job with it,” Blake praised and took another sip, hoping to soothe whatever had made her fearures become clouded and pained. It worked, and Yang's bright smile returned in no time.

“I’m glad you liked it!”

Blake hummed and nodded, grabbing her sandwich to take a bite. The rest of breakfast went quite smoothly. Blake just kept to herself and watched the two sisters bantering. The playfulness made her smile a bit at them, enjoying to just observe. Blake couldn’t help but notice how different Yang and Ruby were from each other.

While Yang's hair was golden and long, looking like wavy rays of sunshine, Ruby's was shorter and brown with red tips. There was also a difference in their eyes, Yang’s being a warm lilac and Ruby's being a strange mix of blue and silver. Yang was also quite more... muscular than her sister. Not that Ruby had noodle arms, but Yang’s biceps were noticeably big. Blake dared say that they were bigger than her own, and she had received military training.

After Yang caught her staring at least twice, Blake decided to just focus on her food. When they all had finished, Blake offered to take the dishes to the sink, but both sisters insisted that it was alright. So she just sat and watched the other women walk through the kitchen. Soon enough, the table had nothing else on it.

“So...” Yang started as they stood by the kitchen’s door, looking at Blake. “Are we gonna, y’know, check on your airship?”

“That’s a good idea,” Blake nodded. “I need to take a look at it. Evaluate the damage and analyze my options. With all due respect, I don’t know if your world has enough technology or resources to fix all of it.”

“Yeah...” Yang’s eyebrows creased, deep in thought.

“Well, you have _human_ resources!” Ruby exclaimed.

“What do you mean?”

“I studied Physics and started working on my thesis to become a doctor in it recently,” Yang grinned, seeming very proud of herself.

“And I am studying Mechanical Engineering! Engines and machines and all that stuff are my thing!” Ruby grinned as well, and Blake saw something very similar to Yang in the way she smiled. “I don’t mean to brag, but Yang and I are pretty great.”

“You chose the right backyard to crash into,” Yang’s smirk became wider and she winked. Blake fought a smile, and her expression became stoic.

“Except I didn’t choose it,” Blake deadpanned and stared at Yang, a brow rising, challenging.

Yang hummed. “I still haven’t heard you complaining about our help,” she crossed her arms, showing off her biceps. Blake had seen that many other times, people using it as a threat. Yang didn’t seem threatening at all; she was challenging Blake back.

“Do I need to make a list of complaints? Because I can fill many pages, starting from this primitive construction.”

“Go ahead, Belladonna. The _primitive construction_ is where you’ll be living for as long as your overly fancy spaceship is broken.”

“Oh, yeah?” Blake crossed her arms too, a smirk of her own appearing. “And I’ll be using your room while you sleep in the couch during that time?”

“Yeah,” the blonde shrugged, smirk becoming a grin. “Whatever time it takes. Why? Eager to share?”

Blake tried hiding her shock at the implications of the statement, stepping forward and into Yang's space. “Wouldn’t want one of my _human resources_ to have her back ruined, now would I?”

Yang's comeback was interrupted by Ruby's voice, who had been quietly watching the exchange. “Are you two going to bicker all day long or can we go check on the airship?I got classes today!”

“Oh, um...” Blake was beyond flustered, and took a step back. “Yeah, I just need to get something before we go. Where is my space suit?”

“Yang left it in the bathroom. It's the door in front of her room,” Ruby answered.

“Okay. I'll be back in a bit.”

The sisters watched as Blake headed to the stairs, until she disappeared. Yang noticed Ruby staring at her from the corner of her eye. She turned to look at the brunette, finding her there with arms crossed and a knowing smirk. ‘Oh no,’ Yang thought. ‘I know this face.’

“What?” Yang asked, leaning against the wall beside the kitchen door. She tried seeming nonchalant. Emphasis on _tried_.

“I didn’t say anything,” Ruby shrugged and her smile became innocent as she raised her hands defensively.

“Your stare was loud enough, Ruby.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sis!” Ruby's hands went behind her body and she leaned forward with a big grin. It reminded Yang of when her sister was fifteen and tried bargaining with her for cookies. Ah, how things were much more lighthearted ten years ago. Not _easier_ , but _lighter_.

A lot did change. But not _everything_.

Yang allowed a smile of her own to take her lips. She ruffled Ruby’s hair, making the shorter woman protest. “You don’t change, huh?”

Ruby chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. “Well, you wouldn’t have changed so much either if-"

“Are you two ready to go?” Blake said, and Yang saw her expression become apologetic as she noticed that the two women were having a talk. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt...”

“It’s okay,” Yang responded, relief evident in her shaky voice. She knew exactly what Ruby was about to bring up and the mere thought of it sent a shiver down her spine and her heart sped up painfully. ‘Breathe, Yang,’ she heard Dr. Goodwitch’s voice in her head. ‘Remember to breathe. In. Hold it. Three seconds. Then out.’

“Let’s go investigate that spaceship!” Ruby exclaimed.

“You can call it ‘Gambol.’” Blake smiled at Ruby's eager nod, and then proceeded. “You two know its location. Please, lead the way.”

“Sure thing!” Yang smiled and turned around, not before noticing the glove Blake was wearing. The deep purple hugged Blake's right forearm, and there was something black on top that covered most of the length. The palm of the glove's hand was also black. Yang assumed it was some sort of device, with a connection between the hand and whatever it was on the top part. She had also put the boots on, which was a very logical decision, seen as they would enter the woods.

After they walked past the door, Yang went to the toolbox to get two axes and two pairs of thick gloves. She kept one to herself and handed the other to Ruby. Blake stared at her, puzzled. “Don’t I get one of those?”

“Too much effort might make your wounds get worse. Ruby and I can handle this,” Yang answered. She grabbed the yellow hoodie she always kept on the bench and handing it to Blake, who raised na eyebrow, questioning. “Fall is still getting started, but you don’t wanna go out there only with bandages covering your body.”

“Thanks,” Blake muttered, unsure of what to say.

The three of them started heading to where the airship had crashed. Ruby walked in front of the other two, taking the lead happily. After Blake stumbled and hissed in pain for the third time, Yang offered her help. She fought a blush as her right arm wrapped around Blake’s waist and the woman’s hand gripped her firmly.

“Sorry,” Blake muttered, and Yang caught a wave of guilt there. It made her wonder what made Blake believe she had to apologize for something like that. “I’m not this clumsy, usually.”

“Hey, you have nothing to apologize for. You’re wounded and all that,” Yang smiled reassuringly.

“Still, with all this trouble I’m already putting you and Ruby through...” she trailed off.

“I’m glad to be able to help you, Blake. And Ruby feels like that too. We’re with you in this, no matter if it means helping you up the woods, or whatever else comes our way.”

“Even if you know nothing about me? About my race?”

“Well, it’s not like you’re a specialist about _me_ or about _my_ race, either!” Yang exclaimed and winked, making Blake smile and look down.

“Yeah,” she nodded, and both went silent after that.

The walk to the crash's location seemed to go by quicker than in the previous night. Yang guessed it was because of the feeling of safety that the daylight offered, or even because she and Ruby already knew where they were going. After some short minutes, they arrived where Blake's airship had landed. Yang watched the ravenette pull away with a frown.

Blake caressed the transport sadly, her hands delicately rubbing the metal. “What happened to us, Gambol?” she asked, and Yang understood immediately that she had a connection to the ship. It was not unusual for people to get attached to things, but something about how Blake talked to Gambol seemed different.

“Welp, that’s huge tree!” Ruby commented, prolonging the ‘u' and unintentionally interrupting the moment. Blake sighed and walked back to where the sisters stood. Yang let out a long whistle as she watched the tree.

“We might need something more efficient than two axes,” Yang put her thumb under her chin as her index finger caressed it lightly. “A chainsaw, perhaps?”

“Yeah...” Ruby answered. “Still might cost us a few days, though.”

Yang hummed, deep in thought. Just as she was about to voice the options she thought of, Blake took a step forward. She had been messing with the device during the whole exchange. She tapped it one last time, and the thing started growing until it became a small gauntlet. Blake pointed her arm at the tree and fired a single, noiseless shot.

Yang watched as the enormous tree began to deteriorate, seeming to be destroyed from the inside. After a few minutes, it basically disintegrated before their eyes. Yang gasped and her eyes widened, not believing what she had just seen. How had a pine tree had just been turned to dust in front of her?

“What the-" she started, but was interruptedby Ruby rushing to Blake to inspect the weapon.

“Wow, that was _so cool_! How did you do that?!” Ruby’s voice held the enthusiasm of a child that just got their favorite toy. The device went back to its previous form, and Blake started explaining. 

“This is a device with multiple features. The one I used is a venom capable of infiltrating the body of plants and attack the system that carries the sap. A small quantity is able to destroy a big tree entirely.”

“Wow...” Ruby muttered in awe. “Blake, that’s awesome!”

Blake just smiled and nodded. “Thought I’d save us a few days.”

“That was cool and all, but since Weiss is not here, I might step in and be the voice of reason-" Yang started.

“What’s with Weiss and being the voice of reason?” Blake whispered to Ruby.

“Long story, I can tell you later.”

“Sure.”

Yang cleared her throat, and then continued her train of thought. “We still have an airship that’s bigger than a jet to move. And we don’t even know if it’ll fit in our garage.”

“I might have a solution to that, too.” Blake smiled and started messing with the device again. This time, an holographic screen appeared from it. Yang had no idea of what was written, and trying to figure out the strange writing started giving her a headache. So she decided to just watch and wait for Blake's next trick.

After Blake selected one of the options, the device started scanning the airship. In a few seconds, a perfect reproduction of it was formed, damage and all. With her left hand, she adjusts the size of the hologram, until it was a lot smaller than it initially was. Then, Blake tapped a square on top of the hologram.

Once again, Yang couldn’t believe her eyes. The once big airship started getting smaller and smaller. She could only describe the transformation by associating it to Transformers, when Bumblebee touched the AllSpark in the first movie and it became a small cube. She gasped as the transformation ceased and Blake walked to it.

“Now we can carry it back,” Blake smirked, putting the toy sized airship in the hoodie's pocket before starting her walk back home. Ruby and Yang stared at her for some seconds. Only when the initial shock started diminishing did they rush toward Blake.

As they made their way to the house, Yang kept wondering what other surprise Blake had in store.

* * *

“So... what do we do now?” Yang asked as she and Blake sat by a large desk in the garage. The back door was opened, letting the warm breeze of the start of Autumn in. Gambol Junior- as Yang affectionately named- was on the desk, looking like a broken toy. “I don’t have that much skill with tiny stuff.”

“Do you have any skills aside from theoretical knowledge and making tea?” Blake rose an eyebrow and stared at Yang, but felt a rush of anxiety go through her when the blonde just stared back. ‘I crossed a line,’ Blake thought, already thinking of a way to work through this. ‘I should apologize.’

Her thoughts were cut off by a low chuckle as Yang averted her gaze, her attention going back to the airship. “Feisty. I like that.”

“Oh, uh...” Blake started, unsure of how to respond. Luckily, Yang started speaking again.

“I do have some practical skills. My family owns a mechanical workshop. Ruby and I used to help dad some times, though he only let me do some heavy lifting when I was fourteen. Same with Ruby.”

“Is that where your love for Physics comes from?” Blake asked, curious.

“I guess you could say that. I mean, not all of it, but seeing all those engines had a bit of influence,” Yang smiled, seeming to go back in time. “It had a much bigger effect on Ruby. You had to see her face when dad first let her repair a car. Her passion for cookies has almost nothing on that.”

Blake laughed soundly, making Yang smile and feel proud of herself. If she could make a woman from another planet who could kill her in one second laugh like that, she guessed she would live to see another day. 

“What about you?” Yang asked unexpectedly. “What lead you to wanna leave your planet in a space adventure?”

Blake’s features became unreadable. “That’s classified information.”

Yang just stared at her blankly for some seconds, but then smiled. “Okay.”

“You’re not going to try and make me talk?” Blake asked with a confused frown.

“Nah, you tell me if you feel the time is right,” Yang poked Gambol Junior. “You’re in this foreign world, with people you know nearly nothing about. I’m here to help, not to make your life harder.”

“You’re too kind.”

“I get it from my mom,” Yang smiled softly. “Okay, so! Where do we start? Can you make it a bit bigger without making it go full size?”

“On it,” Blake stood and put Gambol Junior on the ground and started messing with her device again, adjusting the hologram to the size she wanted. Yang would say it was SUV sized, being big enough for her to work on it, but still fit in her garage. And to not scratch her motorcycle, Bumblebee, that was on the other side of the garage.

“I still don’t get how you do that,” Yang’s eyebrows furrowed, approaching the airship. “Like, the ship is literally bending one of the forms of reality!”

“Don’t ask me, I’m only trained to operate it. I don’t have much contact with the science behind making this work,” Blake responded, tapping her device and making the landing gear appear. Yang was quite grateful that it made the airship tall enough for her to be able to take a look at it without having to use something to lift it up. She didn’t know its weight, so it was probably for the best.

“You do know that the energy required to do this is enormous, right? First, you made it go from a 15 foot plus spaceship to a child's toy. Now, you made it transform again and into a car-sized airship.” Yang’s eyebrows creased in concentration. “Rearranging the molecular structure back and forth like that... are you a mage?”

Blake laughed out loud, covering her mouth in the process. “No,” she said, a hand on her wound. Laughing with a stab wound wasn’t fun, she concluded. “Where do you get those ideas from?”

Yang shrugged. “Humans tend to assume that things that their science can’t explain are mystical.”

“Then your people and mine have more in common than both of us previously assumed,” Blake smirked and twitched her ears. “Are these mystical to you too?”

“Well, no. I mean, assuming that everyone in all the worlds existent would look exactly like humans do is a little presumptuous,” Yang smiled at her. “I don’t know any law that prohibits us from being different and coexisting peacefully in an Universe so vast and full of things I clearly have yet to discover.”

“You’re pretty smart,” Blake complimented and started typing something in her device.

“Thanks,” Yang scratched the back of her head. “What do you call that, by the way?” she asked, pointing at the device.

“It’s a Scroll developed for military activity. Common citizens generally use them for communication, but this one is also connected to my airship and has some special gadgets, too.”

“Like the gauntlet?”

“Yes. And this,” once again, the Scroll started scanning Gambol.

“Didn’t you do that earlier?”

“Yeah, but this is a different use to the scan. That one was solely to capt Gambol's dimensions so it could enable the size change function. Now I’m using a feature that offers a full analysis on the damage the airship suffered.”

“Oh, that’s pretty damn awesome. Wish Ruby was here to see this. Those damned classes...”

“Don’t you have classes?”

“I have to report to my assigned professor every week, and show up at the University with my progress once a month. Beacon is not too strict regarding PhD students, but they do give the ones who are still graduating a _big time_ ,” Yang explained. “And that’s Ruby's case.”

“Oh...” Blake nodded as the scanning was finished. “They make your life a living hell for some years of your life, so you can earn your independence.”

“Basically, yeah. Ozpin is also kinda weird, so I guess there’s that.”

Blake's response was cut off by breath catching as she read the small report from the scan. “No, no, no... this can’t be.”

“What? What is it?”

“I... I have to check something,” Blake tried rushing to the airship, but Yang stopped her.

“Woah, slow down. Just tell me what it is, and I’ll check it for you. Your woun-"

“I don’t care about my wounds!” Blake exclaimed, frustration and anger mixing. Her ears went back threateningly, and there was a growl in her voice. “Stop treating me like I am made of glass, I am _not_ broken and I am _not_ going to break!”

“I'm really, really sorry. I never meant to make you feel that way,” Yang said, sincerity in her tone. Blake kept glaring at her though, and the blonde bit her tongue, trying to think of something else to say. “You gotta tell me how I can help you though, because I won’t let you do this alone.”

The determination in Yang's voice took Blake by surprise. She kept staring at Yang, and the blonde kept eye contact all along. After considering her options- doing it by herself anyway or letting Yang help-, she let out a long sigh, and then nodded. “Okay. The stabilization system was severed. Its power box, specifically. I have to take a look at the engine to be certain if it was truly damaged or if it simply ran out of power.”

“Do you have any experience with that stuff?”

Blake pursed her lips. “Not really. I have more experience with the control panel, not with the mechanical part.”

“So what about this: you tell me what the power box is supposed to look like, I take a look at the engine to check if everything is alright. You have your Scroll and can instruct me through it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Blake sighed. “And I’m sorry for the outburst...”

“Don’t worry about it. I know what it’s like, having people treat you like you’re weak. Pity you. And I am genuinely sorry that I made you feel like that.”

“It’s alright,” Blake smiled.

“So... let’s do this!” Yang started unzipping her hoodie. She hesitated before taking it off, though. “Uh... may I?”

Blake looked at her for some seconds, confused. Then, she saw that Yang wore only a sports bra under the hoodie. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Yang’s muscled stomach. “Uh...”

“I-it's just that afternoons are still pretty w-warm here this time of the year. So I, um... I generally wear just a sports bra under the hoodie. And since I’m gonna be messing with the airship...” Yang trailed off. “B-but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can totally keep it on...”

“I-it’s fine!” Blake said, faster than she had initially intended. “I mean... you do you.”

Yang gulped and nodded, taking the article of clothing off and tossing it to the chair where she previously sat. When she started walking to a cabinet near the front door, Blake caught a big tattoo on her muscular back as Yang pulled her hair in a ponytail. Two black wings covered both sides of her back, only the middle uncovered. The right wing was broken, a single feather falling from it.

When Yang turned back to her with a radiant smile, Blake looked away in an attempt to hide the fact that she was staring. Yang didn’t comment on it, and just dragged... whatever wheeled object it was with gloved hands to where Blake was standing. She also had a desk magnifier in hand. 

“The engine is in the underside, right?” Yang asked.

“Yeah,” Blake’s Scroll made na hologram of the engine. “See this bigger box more to the front? It’s the power box. On the outside, it seems to be fine, but that’s the limit of what the scan is able to cover. So you’re going to have to open it.”

“I'm assuming that’s what the buttons are for?”

“Yeah, I guess so too. See these symbols under each button?” Blake pointed and Yang nodded. “They’re numbers. The pattern is probably on the side of the box.”

“Sure. Big box in the front. Gotta open it using the buttons. Pattern on the side. Got it,” Yang said and positioned the object near the front of the airship. She sat on it and was about to lie down on it when Blake interrupted.

“Wait, I gotta open the engine first.”

“Yes, ma'am!”

Blake rolled her eyes and smiled, putting her left thumb on the Scroll to have her digitals read. When the engine unlocked, Yang gave her a questioning thumbs up. Blake answered with a nod, and Yang wheeled herself to under the airship.

“Woah, this is so shiny!” was Yang's first reaction. There were many things that she couldn’t describe, but there were other aspects that reminded her of the engines she saw when her class studied some more recent rocketships. It was a mix of much more advanced technology, and things that Blake's people seemed to have kept. “Is this all platinum?”

“I think so, yeah,” Blake responded. “Did you find the box?”

Yang’s eyes searched a bit, before locking with a large, black and purple box that took a lot of the front part of the engine. “Yep!” Yang stared at the golden numbers under the purple buttons. Then, she lifted herself with one arm to look at the left side. Nothing. She shifted to look at the right side. “Gotcha,” she muttered when she saw a big series of numbers. “Found the pattern, Blake. Is there a specific order?”

“Let me see,” Blake requested. “The Scroll says if must be back to front.”

“Okay!” Yang read the pattern three times, hoping her memory for these numbers would be as good as for the ones she was used to. She pressed the buttons in the order she remembered, getting a bit startled when a screen with the pattern she was typing appeared. She waited, hoping that she had gotten it right.

Yang celebrated silently as the box opened, the retractable cover revealing the inner system of the power box. “Did you get it?” Blake asked, voice anxious but also curious.

“Yeah,” Yang answered. She inspected the box with the help of the magnifier, finding that it had an inner compartment that looked like a battery, which had some cables and wires sticking from it. The weirdest part was that there were two small holes in the compartment. If not for her trained eyes, Yang wouldn’t even have noticed. Yang took her phone out of her sweat pants’ pocket, and took some pictures of the box using the magnifier to make the image better and focusing on the battery.

She pocketed her phone and pulled the cover back, and then wheeled herself back from under the airship. Yang stood and took off her gloves off before whipping the bit of sweat that broke from her forehead.

“So...?” Blake asked.

“Is it normal for the inner battery to have holes?”

Blake's eyebrows furrowed. “No... no, I don’t think so.”

“Well, then I guess we do have a problem,” Yang took the phone from her pocket. She opened her gallery and chose the best picture she had taken. “See? The rest of it seems just fine. But when you look closer, there are these holes,” Yang watched as Blake paled and gasped. “Hey, it’s nothing that Ruby and I can’t fix!”

“No. It’s... it’s not that,” Blake’s eyes widened, dread taking her whole being. Her ears dropped as realization seemed to hit her hard from every single direction, making her head hurt.

“Blake?” Yang put a hand on her shoulder, grounding her when she started getting dizzy. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Blake’s amber eyes found Yang's, panicked. “Yang... someone sabotaged me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1- Eoslance: Menagerian flower, natural fromthe Federation of Kuo Kuana. The name is the a shortened anagram of "Solenaceae," the scientific family of the belladonna flower/nightshades.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I will start chapters 3 and 4 soon.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts and see y'all soon ♡

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!
> 
> Chapter Two is coming out today as well, but I'm going to post some content for the AU on my Tumblr until I publish it. My user is @sunnylildragun :D
> 
> All in all, hope you liked this beginning! See y'all soon ^-^


End file.
